Hi All, Didn't see this posted in the forum, so I apologize if this question has already been answered. Going to Brussels for 5 days in August with my friends. We would really like to use that as a base to see the cool beer spots around the country. It seems like for a lot of the trappist areas you can take a train/bicycle combination to get there. I also really want to go to Kulminator in Antwerp, though from what I've read, that may be when they are closed (we'll be there August 11-16). Basically there are a lot of cool places it looks like we can get to, but we need to get train tickets for them. It seems simple, but the cost starts to add up. I was wondering if any of you had any websites you recommend to get cheap train tickets to get to these places. Also, do you have any estimations of round trip costs from Brussels to: Poperinge (for Westvleteren), Antwerp, Brugge, Neerpelt (looks like easy bike ride to Achel), Couvin (close to Chimay). Trying to figure out how to see everything I want to see but also not deplete my trip budget so I can actually drink the beers when I get to the places. Any and all help appreciated
Kulmi should be closed in the first two weeks of August, so you might be lucky in the last few. If you're still coming to Antwerp, I'd be happy to show you around other great beer spots in the city though, don't hesitate to send me a BM. We'll skip the tourist traps and go straight to the nicer ones And you're right: Neerpelt is pretty close to Achel, I could poke around with some local friends there for free accoms. Enjoy our country and our beers! Also, bare in mind that if you're travelling through our country by train, you need to make sure you have accoms set up every step of the way. The rail situation is pretty dire here, as most trains only run until roughly 10 PM, maybe 11 if you're lucky.
A 10 trip rail pass (that's 10 one-way tickets from one station to another, including any necessary connections) is ~76 euro if you're 26+ (50 euro Go Pass if you're < 26), and it's what I'm using/have used to get around for most of my travels in Belgium. If you want to use the bus/trams, De Lijn also offers relatively low prices and passes and might be easier for some of the shorter trips. A bike rental in Poperinge will cost you 10 euro for the day at Tomacc with a return by 6:30 pm; I'm not sure about Hotel Belfort's rentals, they were out when I went. If you can borrow a bike or are renting one longer term in one of the major towns, it's 8 euro for a day pass to bring it on the train, so it's a little bit cheaper that way. I've been meaning to write a more comprehensive post on the easiest/best ways I've found to get to the handful of breweries I've been to on my trip, but since I'm still traveling for another week or so I haven't found the time to do it.
I was in Belgium a few weeks back, and used the train to get around a few times. The price from Brussels to Bruges was 13.50 (one way); I presume this would double for a return ticket. I think I paid 23 euros for a return ticket from Bruges to Ypres (Poperinge is the next stop). In general prices for a route don't change, so there's no advantage to buying tickets early as opposed to on the day of travel. However a rail pass like the one mentioned above could make travel much cheaper if you were going to lots of places - you probably wouldn't even need to take 10 trips to get your money's worth from such a pass. The best thing would be to work out which destinations you're interested in and then look up the journeys on the Belgian rail website ( http://www.b-rail.be/main/E/ ). From some places you might need to take more than one train, although Brussels is well connected to the rest of the country.
Thanks for that info guys. The 10 pack looks awesome. Especially since we can split it up between the 4 of us. @Dennoman- once we get our days planned, I'll def talk to you about Antwerp. We are cool with accommodations though. We were mainly planning take an early train in to the places we are visiting, Drink during the day/early evening, and then be back in Brussels by night time.
So.. to piggy back on this one... I am gonna be in Brussels in late September. I was toying around with the idea of heading to Dusseldorf. I hear it is failrly close to Brussels by train. Anyone done this ride?
http://plannerint.b-rail.be/bin/query.exe/n?S=Brussel+Zuid!&Z=Dusseldorf+Airport!&start=1&L=b-rail is what if found, it is possible. The english site did not work properly but the fastest trip can be done in two and a half hour.... Thijs
http://reiseauskunft.bahn.de/bin/qu...=2&ident=44.01226438.1338934195&rt=1&OK#focus As brabander said, 2h30min is the fastest conection via highspeed-train (ICE or Thalys). For this connection you can be lucky to get a discount-ticket if you book in advance (via http://www.bahn.com/i/view/GBR/en/index.shtml or via http://www.thalys.com/be/en/ ). But the prices don't really change - they normally offer a limited number of tickets for a reduced price - and if they are gone, there is only the normal price. But if you travel during the week and not during any holidays or vacation, you can be lucky and can be able to book the reduced tickets even one week in advance) And let me know if you come to Düsseldorf :-) - I live only 20 min away!
I have done the train from Düsseldorf to Brussels, and Brussels to Frankfurt (via Köln), but I have never done a day-trip from Brussels to Düsseldorf or Köln, though one time I came close to doing it. The Brussels to Köln train can be done as a day-trip for sure.
